Penn State

After two years of building up the program, Rob Cooper guided Penn State to a 28-27 record in 2016, a winning season which included a 12-12 mark in the Big Ten. The postseason eluded the Nittany Lions as the tiebreaker to break a three-team tie for eighth place between Illinois, Iowa and Penn State went to the Hawkeyes. But as Penn State’s NCAA Tournament drought approached driving age, there was reason to look to the future with optimism. Since then, Penn State has finished last in the Big Ten in consecutive seasons, winning just 33 games in the process. Outsiders may look to Cooper’s team in State College and, based on recent history, not expect the Nittany Lions to make much noise. But the displeasure experienced in 2018 may yield positive results, as PSU heads into 2019 with a sizable sophomore class looking to lessons learned during struggles into foundations of success and take a step forward.

What to expect in 2019

There are two ways to view the state of the Penn State program entering 2019. The first, seeing the glass as half-empty, would be that every team but Northwestern won as many Big Ten games in 2018 as Penn State has combined between the 2017-2018 seasons, seven. A 4-20 conference season followed by a 3-21 campaign makes for the lowest two-year Big Ten win total since Indiana won seven conference games between the 1981-2 seasons. But even then, the Hoosiers played only 30 Big Ten games, opposed to Penn State’s 48. But enough of the negative. Viewing a three-win season in lens of the glass being half-full would reveals the only team of the last 40 years with a worst winning percentage in Big Ten games than Penn State’s .125 clip in 2018 was Purdue in 2016. Just three years ago, Purdue went 2-22 in Big Ten play for an .083 winning percentage. Where many outside West Lafayette wrote off Purdue for the near future following the 2016 season, first-year head coach Mark Wasikowski guided Purdue to a 29-27 season. Breaking even in Big Ten play at 12-12 Purdue shocked all by finishing eighth and earning a spot in the Big Ten Tournament.

That 2017 Boilermaker team wasn’t all that unlike what the 2019 Nittany Lions may be. Where Purdue had a strong sophomore class, led by Nick Dalesandro, Jackson McGowan and Gareth Stroh, so too does Penn State, with the likes of Bailey Dees, Parker Hendershot and Mason Mellott. A third-year pitcher, Tanner Andrews spearheaded the rotation. Can Penn State’s Dante Biasi be that guy for them? A few transfers from junior college helped set the mentality while providing much needed production, with freshmen sprinkled up the middle. The 2019 PSU team can check those boxes, too.

Yes, times have been tough in State College. But history has shown things can change in a hurry in the Big Ten. Penn State will need to hit better, throw more strikes and field better. But with the shear volume of innings pitched, trips to the plate, balls fielded and thrown by a freshman last year, there’s the opportunity for Penn State to take a big step forward. It’s too be seen just how big that step is, and if it gets the program back on track and trending up in the same way Cooper’s first three years unfolded.

At the plate and in the field

There’s no where to go but up for the Penn State bats. A .233 team batting average ranked last in the Big Ten, .010 points behind the closest team, Maryland. Only Indiana struck out more times than the Nittany Lions’ 451 punchouts, but Indiana’s 463 total came in 10 more games. PSU finished next to last in on-base percentage and slugging, with 10 teams hitting more than the 21 home runs the clubs produced. Through it all, one player had a banner year, and forced his name into being considered one of the Big Ten’s best.

Serving as Penn State’s primary catcher, Ryan Sloniger led Penn State with a .306 average, the line Nittany Lion regular to bat at least .300, with 13 doubles, two triples an five home runs. Adding a .404 on-base percentage and .494 slugging mark, Sloniger looked little like the player he was the prior season. As a sophomore, the Punxsutawney, Penn., native batted .215 with four doubles, two triples and one home run, posting a .613 OPS. Heading into his senior season, Sloniger will be looked upon as Penn State’s offensive leader. Although there might be a position change.

With the addition of transfer Jacob Padilla, from Murray State College, and Penn State coaches seeing growth in Shea Sbranti, multiple players will take their spot behind the plate. When Sloniger is not suited up behind the plate, he will be at first base, looking to provide PSU with the necessary offense at a position which is expected to provide a little thump in the middle of a Big Ten lineup. Like Padilla, transferring from a junior college, Gavin Homer from Kellogg Community College, will be asked to provide a good glove and capable bat, as he takes on second base for Cooper.

The left side of the infield will have familiar faces with senior Conlin Hughes and redshirt-junior Connor Klemann returning to shortstop and third base respectively. Where Sloniger took a step forward in 2018, it was a step backward for Hughes. In 2017, Hughes batted .255 with nine doubles, three triples and four home runs, adding seven stolen bases. Hughes’ average dipped to .189 in 2018, recording six doubles, one triple and no home runs. Rebounding from an injury which limited him to 10 games in 2017, Klemann batted .234 with 10 extra-base hits. As a freshman, Klemann batted .260 over 28 games, lending belief there’s more in the third baseman a full year removed from a season-ending injury.

The first of several important sophomores, Parker Hendershot looks to build off of a strong debut season and fortify the DH spot in the PSU lineup. Appearing in 35 games, Hendershot batted .283 with six doubles and a home run, and drew 16 walks to sport a .379 on-base percentage. Those numbers would be good for classmate Curtis Robison to match, as he fills out a corner outfield spot in year two for the Nittany Lions. Although he batted .179 over 42 games, Robison collected eight doubles, a triple and two home runs as a freshman.

Penn State’s most consistent offensive force over the last two years, Bowersox used nine doubles and four triples to bat .276 last year. In 2017, over 33 games the right-handed hitter batted .333 with seven doubles and three home runs. Junior outfielder Mason Nadeau rounds out he returning players who saw the bulk of their time in the outfield last year. Like Bowersox, Nadeau’s 2017 season was better than his 2018 go. Last year, Nadeau’s average plunged to .202, after beginning his career in State College with a .308 average. Sbranti may see time in the outfield, as well as freshmen Ryan Ford and Justin Williams, with the veteran of the group being senior Jordan Bowersox.

Throughout the lineup, there are players who have shown they can be solid contributors for Penn State. What’s held the team back is rarely have those good years aligned. Where Sloniger stepped forward in 2018, several players regressed. Now, if Solinger maintains the high level of play he established last year, Bowersox, Hughes and Nadeau hit at their 2017 clip, Klemann shows the ability he did as a freshman before injuries set him back in 2017 and Hendershot and Robison show growth in their second year as DI athletes, last year’s .233 team average will fill look a distant memory. That may seem like a lot of ifs, but to even be an if the possibility has to be there, and past performances have indicated they are there for Cooper and Penn State.

On the mound

The outlook isn’t as clear on the mound for Penn State where youth is found in abundance. The Nittany Lions will need to replace Friday starter Justin Hagenman and the 76 strikeouts he recorded over 78.1 innings. Also gone are Taylor Lehman and Marko Borichich, two pitchers who flashed signs of promise but never put it all together, but still combined to pitch 75.1 innings, as Lehman made 10 starts and Borichich appeared in 21 games out of the bullpen.

With 15 sophomores on the team, second-year players will have a big say in Penn State’s success in 2018. They will especially do so on the mound. Sophomores Dante Biasi and Bailey Dees will lead the rotation, with Dees making a significant jump according to Cooper, as he gets ready for a bigger role. Biasi logged 62.1 innings over 13 starts and struck out 51 batters to 36 walks. He may not have the mid-to-upper-90s fastball his older brother Sal Biasi brought to the Penn State rotation two years ago, when he struck out 88 batters in 72.1 innings, but Biasi was serviceable in his first year on the mound after Tommy John surgery. As he made four starts and appeared in 12 games, it was Dees who wowed with strikeouts, punching out 36 in 28 innings. Dees did walk 16 and surrender 31 hits, but the stuff is there to be a big time arm, it’s a matter of control and developing a greater sense of pitchability.

A third sophomore, Conor Larkin, looks to be a key contributor in the bullpen, following 18 relief appearances last year, compiling a 5.79 ERA. In 37.1 innings, Larkin was tagged for 43 hits, but did record 38 strikeouts to 17 walks. Classmate Mason Mellott recorded four saves as his 3.18 ERA led all pitchers, contributing 34 innings over 24 relief outings. Kyle Virbitsky, yet another sophomore, pitched to a 5.40 ERA in 21.2 innings, with 14 of his 15 appearances coming as a reliever. Fourth-year junior Eric Mock started the season at the back of the Penn State bullpen, and finished with three saves over 31.2 innings and a 5.97 ERA.

For newcomers, Cooper likes the promise left-handed freshmen Tyler Shingledecker and Hutch Gagnon have shown leading up to the season and expect the ball to be in their hands early and often.

There are a few key innings that need filled and throughout the pitching staff there isn’t a lot of history for the players Penn State will rely on on the mound. But there are a lot of players that were thrown to the fire early, players that arrived on campus together and look to turn the tide together, who figure to be battle tested, with little that can come there way in 2018 to throw them off. If a few players take a step forward in their second season, there may be enough in the rotation and in relief for the pitchers to do their part, and take some pressure off the bats so the best of their abilities come out and get the ship turned for Penn State.

Five things to watch

Sloniger building off of last year and becoming one of the Big Ten’s top bats.

Do Hughes, Bowersox and Nadeau return to 2017 form.

Can Mellott and Mock form to 1-2 punch at the back of the bullpen.

Which sophomore in the rotation takes a step forward.

Does Cooper rotate catchers or does someone make the position theirs through production.

One weekend to circle

March 1-3 vs. Duke. After playing in a super regional and ending the season with a top 10 ranking, picked to be one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s best teams, Penn State’s neutral site series against the Blue Devils will be a great barometer of progress. The first two series of the season, three games against Monmouth and four games against Fairfield, all played in Cary, N.C, should give Penn State the ability to head into March with a winning record. For a young team, success in the opening weekends are critical, creating confidence by seeing the offseason efforts pay dividends is a must. In taking on Duke, Penn State will see first hand what a regional club looks like and where they have to go to become one themselves. If Biasi, Mellott, Mock and Dees can put together quality outings against a potential top 25 team, or Hendershot, Sloniger or Ford run into one as Duke features one of the country’s best pitchers in left-hander Graeme Stinson. A strong showing against Duke can quickly parlay into bigger things, as another good non-conference series at Central Florida follows, before a series against UMass-Lowell concludes the pre-Big Ten slate where date with Minnesota starts Big Ten play.

FORT WORTH, Texas – There aren’t many teams that genuinely relish the opportunity to face the No. 1 team in the country, let alone open the season against nation’s top team on the road.

When the 2017 baseball schedule was put together, Penn State coach Rob Cooper didn’t know TCU would be unanimously ranked as the country’s best team, but he knew the Horned Frogs would provide the stiffest of tests for his young team, and that was by design.

TCU has been to the College World Series each of the past three seasons, including last season after they swept a three-game series at Penn State in early May. No team in the country has won more games than TCU’s total of 148 the previous three years.

“We could have scheduled a lot of different teams for this weekend and maybe won a couple or had a better outcome winning wise,” said Cooper, who began his fourth season with the Nittany Lions on Friday. “But we have the chance to get a lot better as a program, a lot better as a team and be the type of program we want to be by playing a great team like this.”

Penn State came up short in all three games to open the 2017 campaign, falling by scores of 6-3, 12-1 and 9-3 Sunday in the series finale. TCU averaged 5,258 fans for the three-game set.

“Anytime you get swept, it’s never the start you want, that’s for sure,” Cooper said. “You’re playing a great team in TCU and there is a reason why they are ranked No. 1 in the country.”

Penn State, which returned all three of its weekend starters, did not have a single starter reach the fifth inning against TCU and only one made it into the fourth. The entire pitching staff struggled with command, issuing 17 walks to go with 22 strikeouts.

That was no more evident than in the season-opening 6-3 loss, when the Lions limited TCU’s offense to only two hits. PSU pitchers walked six, hit a batter and allowed an eighth batter to reach on a wild pitch strikeout. It’s hard to overcome all of that, but a crucial error and a passed ball led to two unearned runs. It proved to be Penn State’s best opportunity for a victory in this series.

Starter Sal Biasi struck out seven, but walked four, turning the ball over in the fourth inning in a 4-0 hole. TCU added two more in the sixth before Penn State struck back with a three-run seventh inning.

Saturday, Penn State struck first with a single run in the top of the first inning, but starter Taylor Lehman lasted only 1.1 innings after giving up three runs in the bottom of the second inning. TCU scored two more in the third, exploded for six more in the fourth and scored its final run in the fifth. PSU pitchers managed six strikeouts, but walked five and hit two more batters.

Armed with a two-run lead, Sunday starter Justin Hagenman kept TCU off the scoreboard in the first, but gave up five runs over the next two innings before giving way to Dakota Forsyth to start the fourth inning. Penn State used four pitchers in the series finale and they combined for six strikeouts and six walks.

Pitch counts escalated quickly for the three starters. Biasi threw 79 pitches in his 3.2 innings, Lehman threw 50 in his 1.1 innings, while Hagenman threw 69 pitches in three innings of work.

“I know we can pitch better,” Cooper said. “When your three starters – and they’re all three really competitive guys and they’re going to build and get better from this – but when they’re 70 pitches into the game in the third or fourth inning, you have to have longer starts and take it deeper into the game so your bullpen is fresher and stronger.”

Offensively, Penn State was outhit 25-13 despite the two-hitter by the TCU offense on Friday. Only two Nittany Lions had at least three hits in the series. That was second baseman Conlin Hughes, who was 2 for 4 on Saturday and 1 for 3 Sunday. He drove in a run on a fielder’s choice in the season opener. First baseman Willie Burger also went 3 for 10 in the series, including a pair of home runs in the finale, a two-run shot in the first and a solo shot in the eighth. He finished the weekend with four RBI with an RBI-double on Saturday.

“The thing I’m most proud of with Willie is that he’s starting to slow down his internal clock down a little bit and that is because he’s so competitive and wants to do well,” Cooper said. “Sometimes that gets him in trouble because sometimes he wants to hit like a ‘seven-run’ homer, but today he had some great at-bats and this weekend he had some great at -ats.”

Cooper said there were some things he liked from his team against TCU. There were guys who put together some good at-bats even when they weren’t productive. They had guys compete on the mound despite trailing for all but five innings and they got some young guys and true freshmen into the lineup.

Yet there remains plenty to work on, like having their pitchers work ahead in pitch counts as well as their defense taking care of the baseball. They also have to find a way to score against really good pitching.

“The thing I’m more excited about is the stuff we didn’t do well,” Cooper said. “Because that is the stuff we need to attack and move on with.”

“That’s the kind of program we want to be,” Cooper said about TCU. “So we’re going to look at the stuff that we need to do to compete at that level and get better at. Our goal is to try to be in a position at the end of the year to play in this type of environment again.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff that we can take (home) and work on and get better from and that’s what we’re going to have to do.”

Penn State returns to action Friday with four-game series against Xavier at the USA Baseball National Training Center in Cary, N.C.

The 2017 season is littered with big series, week after week in the Big Ten. Here is a look at 10 series which will shape the season.

Penn State at TCU, Feb. 17-19

Penn State has improved upon the previous season in each of Rob Cooper’s first three seasons in State College. The Nittany Lions finished the 2016 season with a 28-27 record, above .500 for the first time since 2012, going 12-12 in Big Ten play. Penn State finished in a tie for eighth in the conference, with Illinois and Iowa, but due to tiebreakers was on the outside of the Big Ten Tournament field. Penn State will have an opportunity right out of the gate to put to rest any lingering wishes of last season, opening the 2017 season at consensus #1 TCU. Penn State returns its entire weekend rotation from 2016 and the talent base and depth continues to build for the Nittany Lions. There is no greater opportunity to see how far the program than facing a program which has appeared in three consecutive College World Series. Penn State played TCU tough in a three-game set last year in State College, ultimately being swept. If Penn State can leave Fort Worth with a win, Coop’s crew may be in line for a breakout year.

Maryland at LSU, Feb. 24-26

Maryland’s series at LSU has been circled from the day the respective schedules were put out. Tabbed the Big Ten’s favorite by national media, Maryland’s mettle will be tested early. There is no environment in college baseball like LSU’s Alex Box Stadium, but this is a Maryland team used to unwelcoming settings. It wasn’t long ago the Terrapins were coming off of back-to-back super regional appearances, in fact, that was just last year. With across the board preseason rankings, expectations are again high for Maryland. The meeting with the Tigers will not provide an opportunity to build a strong RPI, but if Maryland performs as many expect, they could be in line for a regional host at year’s end, and an early season win on the road against a top 10 team would be quite the bullet on a resume. The series will also likely have the best pitching matchup of any game involving a Big Ten team this season when Terrapin Brian Shaffer toes the mound opposite LSU’s Alex Lange, both strong draft prospects, to kick the weekend off.

Rutgers at Virginia, Feb. 24-26

Rutgers opens the season at Miami, and 2016 College World Series participant, providing a tough opponent from the start. But it is Rutgers’ second weekend, still against a very good opponent, at Virginia that figures to be a better gauge on what’s in front of the Scarlet Knights in 2017. Joe Litterio’s team now calls the glistening Fred Hill Training Complex home, a fully turfed indoor infield, which allows Rutgers to do everything on a diamond indoor it seeks to do outside. This is quite critical in the preparation for the New Jersey program. Expected to be as game-ready as ever to enter the season, it’s still hard to duplicate the outdoor nature of baseball. With a weekend under their belt, how Rutgers battles Virginia, the 2015 national champions, should show if the team is on an upward trend. Can Rutgers pull the upset and leave Charlottesville with a weekend win? Even grabbing one win will show Rutgers will have a say in how the Big Ten table shakes out.

Michigan at Lipscomb, March 10-12

Michigan’s depth on the mound paired with a few questions in the gives the Wolverines an opportunity to bring the Big Ten championship, and a NCAA regional, to Ann Arbor for the first time since 2008. The Wolverines open March in the four-team Dodgertown Classic field alongside San Diego and hosts UCLA and USC, putting Michigan against top competition early in the season. But the following weekend is one to keep an eye on. In Nashville, Michigan will meet Lipscomb for a three-game series, its first weekend set against a team expected to reach the NCAA Tournament. Not only is Lipscomb viewed by national media as regional-bound, in some corners they’re seen as a College World Series darkhorse. Led by preseason All-American outfielder Michael Gigliotti, Lipscomb swept preseason Atlantic Sun coaches honors. Tabbed as conference favorites, Gigliotti is the ASUN Preseason Player and Defensive Player of the Year, while Brady Puckett earned Preseason Pitcher of the Year.

Michigan State at South Carolina, March 10-12

Michigan State broke a 33-year NCAA Tournament drought in 2012, a year after being conference co-champions with Illinois. For six seasons now, Jake Boss’ team has been a club in the mix for conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths. Unfortunately, Michigan State has yet to duplicate either feat, painstakingly being the first team left out of the 2013 NCAA Tournament and one of the first four out in 2015. But every year, Michigan State attempts to put itself a position to be considered for a tournament berth, seeking out tough competition away from home. From Texas A&M to UCLA and Oregon, there is no place MSU won’t go. This year, they take on Southeastern Conference power South Carolina. Like their in-state rivals in Ann Arbor, the team in East Lansing has a roster strong enough to bring a NCAA Regional to town. Grabbing a road win in Columbia will give MSU the credibility it needs to show they are for real, to get over the hump and return to the NCAA Tournament.

Minnesota at Ohio State, March 24-26

The pre-conference slate is filled with big series from coast to coast, putting teams in position to have a big 2017. The Big Ten season kicks off pitting two teams against each other, looking to continue what was started in 2016. The reigning Big Ten Tournament champions welcome the reigning conference champions for a banner series out of the gate. Due to conference expansion and schedule quarks, Ohio State has not played host to Minnesota since 2012. Two tradition-ladened clubs, it’s mind-blogging five years could pass between the Gophers last trip to Columbus. On paper, both teams lost a lot from 2016 regional clubs, for Minnesota, the Big Ten Player of the Year Matt Fiedler is now in the pro ranks, the same for Ohio State’s Ronnie Dawson, the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. But enough parts return where a run at another conference crown should not be unexpected, nor a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. Which team can start conference play on the right note will get a shot in the arm in turning a one-year rise into sustain success.

Maryland at Nebraska, April 7-9

In each of the last three seasons, the Big Ten has yet to see the top two finishers square off in a weekend series. The 2016 season ended in high drama with Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio State all with a shot at the conference title, with the four teams squaring off in two series, but the season ended with Minnesota at the top, Nebraska second, one half-game separating the two with a game played between them. Illinois’ historic 21-1 season came without playing second-place Iowa. The 2014 Big Ten Tournament championship game was a sensational spectacle, in part because Indiana and Nebraska, two ranked teams did not play in the regular season. Will this finally end? On the accord on national media, Nebraska is right there with Maryland as the team to beat in the Big Ten. An early April weekend sees the two square off, and it should be a dandy. Maryland’s dynamic pitching duo of Shaffer and Taylor Bloom will go against Nebraska’s big boopers in Scott Schreiber and Ben Miller. Both clubs have talent and experience, both are led by hard-nosed, no-nonsense coaches. With Hawks Field capable of filling up with thousands upon thousands, this will be a must-see series.

Xavier at Indiana, May 5-7

It’s a sneaky good non-conference series, quite the pickup for Indiana in its bye week. And the Hoosier didn’t have to look far for its opponent. While a mid-major, Xavier has a very capable team in 2017, should not be overlooked for a lack of power conference stature. The Musketeers, who may be home to the best pitching prospect in the Midwest in Zac Lowther, are the Big East preseason favorites return several capable players, from its Nashville Regional runners-up team. The Hoosiers will be the third Big Ten team Xavier faces in a weekend series, following Penn State and Ohio State, and, while the results do no count, have left Bloomington with an exhibition victory in each of the last two Autumns. Indiana returns its entire lineup and by May, the completely new rotation should have settled in. Looking to appear in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years, May will be a big month for the Hoosiers hopes, starting with this series against the Queen City club.

Long Beach State at Minnesota, May 12-14

Minnesota will open the season at the Big West’s UC Irvine and will conclude it’s out-of-conference slate by welcoming the Big West’s Long Beach State to Minneapolis in May. Long Beach State enters the season with a national ranking, looking primed to build on its program’s storied history. Minnesota is absent a preseason ranking, but they’ll be looking to do the same, shooting for a Big Ten-best 31st NCAA Tournament appearance. By mid-May, RPI fluctuations will have calmed, teams will have a dozen weekends of showing who they are and what they’re capable of. For Minnesota to have a quality opponent come to town this late in the season is a boon. The Gophers will have the ability to make a final statement on the national landscape and potentially propel itself to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament, for the first time since 2004.

Michigan vs. Michigan State, May 18-20

Oh, what a dandy this could be. When Michigan and Michigan State meet, the two come together for a split-site series, alternating between two home games around one road contest, year after year. Last year, when the teams met in the final weekend of April, more than 7,000 fans came out to watch the rivals square off. That was with overcast skies twice in Ann Arbor and on a gray Saturday in East Lansing, the temperature resting in the upper 40s throughout the weekend. What could the turnout be if the two face off the final weekend of the season, with temperatures climbing into the 70s, as two teams stocked with pitchers and capable bats do battle? The imagination runs wild, what a way to end the season.